Ratchet handle screwdriver



P 1967 l. JANES 3,342,229

RATGHET HANDLE SCREWDRIVER Filed Oct. 21, 1965 Fig.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Igor Janes INVENTOR.

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United States Patent Office 3,342,229 Patented Sept. 19, 1967 3,342,229 RATCHET HANDLE SCREWDRIVER Igor Janes, 372 Cobden St., Sarnia, Ontario, Canada Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,879 7 Claims. (Cl. 14571) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ratchet handle tool provided with a primary cylindrical handle and an auxiliary handle pivotally secured to and nested thereagainst which may be utilized to assist in amplifying the torsional force which may be applied to a ratchet actuated tool shank carried by the primary handle.

This-invention relates generally to a hand held tool provided with integral ratchet means to assist in impartin'g unidirectional motion to a tool shank rotatably carried by the tool and more particularly to an improved screwdriver provided with a ratchet handle.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a ratchet handled tool which is provided with a generally cylindrical handle and an auxiliary handle nested thereagainst to assist in amplifying the torsional force which may be applied to a tool shank carried thereby.

' Another object of the present invention is to provide a ratchet handle screwdriver which includes a rotatably supported pawl means provided with a pivotally secured auxiliary handle which is selectively positionable between a first position in nested relation to the primary handle of the tool wherein the ratchet means is rotated in unison with the rotation of the primary handle and a second laterally extended position to effect rotation of the ratchet means independent of the rotation of the primary handle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a ratchet handle screwdriver of the class described which is provided with a laterally extensible auxiliary handle adapted to facilitate the amplification of torsional force which may be applied to the tool shank being unidirectionally rotated by the ratchet means.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a ratchet handle screwdriver of the class described which is further provided with a rotatably mounted palm grip which facilitates applying a longitudinal thrust to the tool carried thereby. Still a further object of the presentinvention is to provide a. ratchet handle screwdriver of the class described which is provided with a selectively operable ratchet means adapted to selectively drive a tool shank, such as a screwdriver, unidirectionally in response 'to a bidirectional movement of the primary or auxiliary handles of the tool.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently. apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a ratchet handle screwdriver constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the ratchet handle screwdriver of FIGURE 1 further showing an auxiliary handle forming a part thereof in its laterally extended position;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the tool of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom plan view of the tool of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of the tool of FIGURE 1 with a portion thereof shown in vertical section taken substantially along the plane of the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 77 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the ratchet means of the tool of FIGURE 1 taken substantially along the plane of the line 88 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary elevational view of FIG- URE 7 showing the ratchet pawl means in an alternate position; and

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the ratchet pawl of the ratchet means of the tool of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing and FIGURES 1 through ,5 in particular, it will be seen that an exemplary embodiment of a ratchet handle tool constructed in accordance with the present invention is illustrated generally at and includes a generally cylindrical handle 22 formed from a suitable rigid material such as wood, plastic and the like. Adjacent one end of the generally cylindrical handle 22 the ratchet handle tool 20 is provided with a ratchet means indicated generally at :24 adapted to impart unidirectional rotation to a tool shank such as the screwdriver shank 26 in response to bidirectional rotation of the ratchet handle tool 20 when driving or removing a threaded fastener such as a wood screw, machine bolt or the like.

Although the exemplaryembodimentll) illustrated is provided with a screwdriver shank it will be understood that the tool 20 may be similarly provided with a tool shank of another configuration such as that of a reamer, socket wrench, drill, etc.

The ratchet means 24 includes a pawl means 28 which is rotatably secured to the handle 22 by means of a bushing 30 provided with an outwardly flaring flange 32 which rotatably receives the pawl means 28 as seen best in FIGURE 8. The bushing 30 is press fit into a suitable longitudinally disposed recess 34 so as to non-removeably but rotatably secure the pawl means 28 to the handle 22. To this end, the bushing 30 is preferably provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending spaced apart upstanding ridges 31 on the outer periphery thereof as seen best in FIGURE 5.

As seen best in FIGURES 1, 2 and 5, the ratchet handle tool 20 is further provided with a laterally extensible auxiliary handle 36 provided with a bifurcation indicated at 38 to facilitate pivotally securing the handle 36 to the pawl means 28 with a clevis pin 40 which is frictionally retained in suitable apertures provided in both the bifurcated portion 38 of the handle 36 and an upstanding boss 42 integral with the pawl means 28.

As seen best from a. comparison of FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be appreciated that as seen in FIGURE 1 when the handle 36 is contiguous with the handle 22, the handle 22, handle 36 and the pawl means 28 are rotated in unison. However, as seen in FIGURE 2, when the handle 36 is pivoted downwardly into its laterally extended position it will be appreciated that the handle 36 may be utilized to rotate or oscillatethe pawl means 28 independently of the rotation of the handle 22.

The ratchet handle tool 20 is preferably provided with a revolving palm grip 44 which is rotatably secured to the upper end of the handle 22 by means of a threaded stud 46 which is press fit or otherwise non-removably secured in a suitable recess provided in the upper end of the handle 22 so as to permit the application of a thrust to the tool without impeding the rotation of the tool. The palm grip 44 which may be formed of any suitable rigid mate- U rial such as wood, plastic and the like is rotatably secured to the stud 46 by means of a nut 48 threadably received thereon and locked in a suitable conventional manner so as to permit the palm grip 44 to rotate freely with respect to the handle 22.

Referring now to FIGURES 7, 8, 9 and 10 it will be seen that the tool shank 26 is rotatably received within both the pawl means 28 and the bushing 30. The tool shank 30 is provided with a ratchet wheel 50 integrally formed therewith or rigidly secured thereto. The tool shank 26 is rotatably but removably secured within the pawl means 28 by a retaining plate 52 removably secured to the body 29 of the pawl means 28, for rotation therewith, by suitable fasteners such as the recessed machine bolts 54.

The driving connection between the pawl means 28 and the ratchet wheel 50 of the tool shank 26 is provided by a bifurcated ratchet pawl 56 which is slidably secured for limited slidable movement with regard to the body member 29 of the pawl means 28 between the position shown in FIGURE 7 and the position shown in FIGURE 9. The bifurcated ratchet paWl 56 is slidably secured by a threaded fastener 58 which passes through an arcuate strip of spring metal 60, a suitable elongated slot indicated a 62 in the body member 29 of the pawl means 24 and is threadably received in a suitably threaded aperture provided in the ratchet pawl 56 as seen best in FIGURE 8.

The ratchet pawl 56 is retained in its selectively set position as in FIGURE 7 or 9 by a pair of opposed upper and lower spring biased dentents 64 and 65, respectively. The detent balls 61 and 65 cooperate with a plurality of complementary recesses 66'provided in the upper and lower central portions of the ratchet pawl 56. The ratchet pawl 56 is thus resiliently retained in either of the extreme positions shown in FIGURES 7 and 9. However, the pawl 56 is permitted, by virtue of this resilient retention, to oscillate arcuately, i.e. axially, a sufficient distance during use, without disengaging the detent balls 61 and 65 from their complementary recesses 66, to permit the teeth on the ratchet wheel 59 to slip past the teeth on the pawl 56 to effect the unidirectional drive of the tool shank 26. It will be therefore understood that by selectively sliding the bolt 58 clockwise to the position shown in FIGURE 7, the pawl 56 will be retained in such position so as to impart a counterclockwise rotation to the tool shank 26, as indicated by the arcuate arrow on the ratchet wheel 50 in FIGURE 7, in response to rotation of the handle 22 either with the handle 36 contiguous therewith as shown in FIGURE 1 or with the handle 36 in its laterally extended position as seen in FIGURE 2 wherein one hand may be utilized to hold the handle 22 and the other hand utilized to manipulate the handle 36 so as to substantially increase the torque which may be applied to the tool shaft 26 by the pawl means 28.

To selectively set the pawl means to drive the tool shaft in a clockwise position as shown in FIGURE 9, it is merely necessary to move the bolt 58 in a counterclockwise position to move the pawl counterclockwise so as to impart a unidirectional rotation to the tool shaft 25 clockwise regardless of whether the handles 22 and 36 are rotated unidirectionally or bidirectionally.

It will therefore be appreciated that there has been provided an improved ratchet handle tool which may be advantageously utilized to tighten or loosen fasteners or perform numerous other operations depending on the configuration of the tool shaft utilized,

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A ratchet handle tool comprising in combination a first generally cylindrical handle provided with a longitudinally disposed recess adjacent one end, a bushing secured in said recess, said bushing including an integral flange disposed outwardly of said recess, a pawl means rotatably secured to said flange on said bushing, a second handle pivotally secured to said pawl means for movement from a first non-rotatable position contiguous with said first handle to a second position whereby said handle is adapted to be rotated through -a plane at generally right angles to the axis of rotation of said pawl means, and whereby said second handle may be utilized to rotate said pawl means independently of the rotation of said first handle means, a tool shank means rotatably received in said bushing, said tool shank means including an integral ratchet wheel adapted to be acted upon by said pawl means to be rotated thereby.

2. The combination of claim 1 including means rotatably securing a palm grip adjacent the end of said first handle opposite that provided with said rotat-ably secured pawl means.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said tool means is a screwdriver shank.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pawl means is provided with a selectively positionable ratchet pawl means adapted to impart selectively unidirectional rotation to said tool shank in response to the rotation of said pawl means.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pawl means acting upon said ratchet wheel includes a bifurcated ratchet pawl mounted for eccentric selective movement between first and second extreme positions where-by in said first extreme position said tool shank means may be driven in one rotational direction and in the opposite rotational direction when said ratchet pawl is in said second extreme position.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said pawl means includes resilient ball means operatively associated with said bifurcated pawl to selectively and resiliently retain said bifurcated ratchet pawl in said first and said second extreme positions.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said ball means act upon opposed axial faces of said bifurcated ratchet pawl and are received in complementary concave recesses in the axially opposed faces of said bifurcated ratchet pawl.

shank References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,512,232 6/1950 Hart -75 2,778,396 1/1957 Swain 145-61 X 2,891,434 6/1959 Lozensky 81-63 X WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. R, V, PARKER, ]R., Assistant Examiner, 

1. A RATCHET HANDLE TOOL COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A FIRST GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL HANDLE PROVIDED WITH A LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED RECESS ADJACENT ONE END, A BUSHING SECURED IN SAID RECESS, SAID BUSHING INCLUDING AN INTEGRAL FLANGE DISPOSED OUTWARDLY OF SAID RECESS, A PAWL MEANS ROTATABLY SECURED TO SAID FLANGE ON SAID BUSHING, A SECOND HANDLE PIVOTALLY SECURED TO SAID PAWL MEANS FOR MOVEMENT FROM A FIRST NON-ROTATABLE POSITION CONTIGUOUS WITH SAID FIRST HANDLE TO A SECOND POSITION WHEREBY SAID HANDLE 